Friday, May 25, 2012

Dragon Whiskers Candy

We usually avoid Hawaii Supermarket in San Gabriel because the crazy busy parking lot is hell. But on one recent Saturday, we decided to brave the insanity so we could visit Alex Goh's dragon whiskers candy cart. That's one of the nice things about Hawaii Supermarket, the small line of street-food vendors outside the entrance. They make the food right there so the confections are super fresh.

What's dragon whiskers candy? A wonderful, delicate sweet made from honey. As you'll see in the video I found on YouTube, the honey is stretched into hundreds of thin strings until it really does look like "dragon whiskers". It's then stuffed with things like peanuts or coconut. Alex even did a live demonstration for us. It was unbelievable the way he turned a lump of cooked honey into "dragon whiskers", all in about sixty seconds. Now that's magic. Alex told us that he cooks the honey for something like eight hours in preparation for the whiskers. Sadly, very few people still make the candy this way. Today's young people just find the work too tedious.



I think Alex is at Hawaii Supermarket on most weekends. Here's the address.

Hawaii Supermarket 
120 E Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA

Friday, January 20, 2012

Vista Theatre

Yesterday, we went to see The Artist at the Vista Theatre. What a wonderful theater. Only one screen, beautifully restored, the Egyptian motif a time capsule back into pure Hollywood whimsy. I can't think of a more perfect theater to see The Artist, a modern silent film about Hollywood in the 20s and 30s. (Great, fun film, BTW.)

The Vista first opened in 1923 and it's had a rough history, according to an old LA Times article. At one point, it was a porn house! Now it's a lovely, romantic theater, a great place to have a first date. One caveat: we found their sound system a bit harsh, made worse because the sound was being played on the loud side.


Vista Theatre

4473 Sunset Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-6639

Friday, January 13, 2012

Pasadena Cheeseburger Week


Pasadena is celebrating the cheeseburger next week. Why? Well, apparently the cheeseburger was born in Pasadena, way back in 1920 something...

Sadly, it's nothing more than a very noncreative way to promote Pasadena businesses. I mean, there aren't even any contests and just a handful of discounts. But I suppose it's not a bad excuse to eat more cheeseburger...